Dental Implants – they weren’t always made of titanium.

Titanium dental implants are a relatively recent human discovery.

Evidence has been gathered, through archeology, showing us that human tooth replacement actually goes back thousands of years.

Some of the precursors to dental implants were made of sea shells

Some of the earliest versions of a dental implant were made of ivory as well as from precious metals. Previous generations were very inventive when it came to developing predecessors of the dental implant. In China, they have found human remains with bamboo pegs hammered into the jaw replacing lost teeth. These remains are approximately four thousand years old. In Egypt, they have found human remains with pegs of precious metal in the jaw. Another precursor to the dental implant. Some Egyptian mummies were found with human teeth that were transplanted from other people. Other mummies were discovered with teeth of ivory. In a Honduras archeological site dating back to 600 AD, they found the lower jaw of a Mayan woman with replacement teeth made from pieces of shell that were shaped to resemble teeth. These fragments are on display at the Osteological Collection of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

Are you interested in a dental implant solution? Contact us at Chrysalis Dental Centres for a hassle free, no obligation consultation to find out if you are a candidate for one of our dental implant solutions?